How to make beautiful bowl (Part 1)

Making beautiful bowl

Use papier mache and glorious pearlescent paints to create a beautiful bowl for your Easter eggs Judy Balchin shows you how

For easter, you can create this colourful bowl using papier mache. The paper pulp we used is available in instant form from good craft shops. Our bowl is decorated with Pebeo Deco Pearl paints and is ideal to pack full of bright, foil-wrapped eggs and chocolate treats. Alternatively, you can decorated your own eggs for that finishing touch. To blow an egg, simply make pin pricks in opposite ends of the egg (you’d be surprised how easy it is!). Wiggle the pin  gently in the hole to enlarge it slightly, then hold the egg over a bowl and blow hard.

You will need

• One bowl, approximately 12cm (4 ¾”) deep and 19cm (7 ½”) wide
• Wallpaper paste mixed with one tablespoon of PVA glue
• Newspaper strips approximately 2m (3/4”) wide
• Petroleum jelly
• Thick string
• Strong clear glue
• Masking tape
• Paper pulp, mixed
• Tissue paper
• Piece of thin card (cereal packet is ideal)
• Pebeo Deco Pealr paints: turquoise, emerald, violet, pink and gold
• Large and medium paint brushes
• Gold tissue paper
• Four eggs, blows and washed

Step by step
Step 1
Smear the inside of the bowl with petroleum jelly. Soak the newspaper strips in the wallpaper paste and apply six layers of newspaper to the inside of the bowl, smoothing out any air bubbles or excess paste with your fingers as you work. Leave to dry and, when completely hard, carefully remove the mould from the bowl and trim the rim with a pair of scissors.

Step 2
Cut out the chick template. Draw round the template using a black felt tip on the side of your bowl. Move the template round the bowl and repeat until you have a row of chicks drawn all the way round (fig. 1). Using the felt tip line as a guide and starting at the tall end of the chick, glue a length of string and glue into position to form the beak. Cut two lengths for the wings, glue and press into position. Working  round the bowl, repeat this process until all the chicks are complete (fig.2). Leave until the glue is set hard.

Part 2